Play It Again
by Morganabel
Summary: Its been a hundred and three years- can the reincarnated selves of Satine and Christian make it work this time? Epilogue Added. [Complete]
1. Prolouge

Prologue  
  
The lovebird sat on its perch, looking as regal as any royal pet, even though his home was in a rusted cage near the slums of New York City. Despite the squalid setting, it looked every inch its name- Spectacular.   
  
If birds could smile, this one would be doing so widely. He was alive again. After a hundred and three years of penance, he'd have his second chance. This time he'd make sure that nothing went wrong between them. If he'd succeed- next time he'd be a life closer to being one of them. Being human.   
  
Spects, as his mistress called him, couldn't be happier for this. It was damned hard to get people to complete their destiny while you were a bird.   
  
A bloody bird couldn't leave its cage, much less point in the right direction. But Spects wasn't worried. He had a plan. All he had to do is let fate start them off, and as soon as they met, well that's when Spects would, figuratively, step in.  
  
It'd be so simple this time around. Wouldn't it? 


	2. Chapter One

Part One  
  
  
  
Silke Montclair always ran late. It wasn't like she planned it a'tall but no matter what she did, the clock always proved her to be late. The customers of the Scarlet Tower said that if her body and the skill of which she used it didn't make up for it, then they'd be very angry and leave. Instead, however, they found themselves enjoying more from the anticipation of having her.  
  
Bluntly put, the fact that she was a great fuck was the only thing that even saved her job.   
  
"Splendid," She mumbled to herself, not taking any pride in that fact that not only was she a prostitute, but she was a great one at that.  
  
Silke tied her red-gold hair together as quickly and elegantly as possible, before sparing a glance at her bird, Spects, the one thing in her life she'd even consider calling a true friend. "Ah, Spectacular don't give me that look. Now how do I look? Smoldering temptress?" She turned around long enough to check her reflection, before her attention was back on Spects. "Now lets hope that the priest was right, and my hair is an invitation to sin. If not I'm screwed…and not the kind that gives me a paycheck."  
  
Realizing that she was wasting her time, precious time at that, talking to a lovebird that probably didn't understand a word that she was saying, she grabbed her shoulder bag, and stopped over at her bookcase.  
  
"Tonight?" Silke racked her brain, trying to remember who her lover was to be tonight. "Oh, hell. The investor." She groaned out loud, scanning the bookcase. "Looks like a Susan Johnson night." She grabbed the appropriate book, throwing it in there. When she first began she was embarrassed on how much turned off she could get by some of the customers, which led to them being very unsatisfied. Fortunately for Silke, Marguerite, who helped run the club along with its owner suggested romance novels. After reading a few of Johnson's love scenes, Silke was pretty much ready to sleep with anyone. Hopefully anyone would do, she was counting on it.   
  
  
As Silke was readying for her night with the investor, Christian MacLaren, commonly known as Kit, was trying to decide on how to tactfully remove his friends from his life. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to understand a word he said. And if they disobeyed a plea from him, they blamed it on his accent.   
  
Bloody hell.  
  
"What's so important about going to a nightclub?" Kit asked after giving up on making excuses as to why he couldn't go. "There are plenty of 'em in Connecticut."  
  
Henry apparently decided to take pity on him, because he answered the question. "This nightclub is really a secret whorehouse, Kitty." Apparently not too much pity for he used the nickname kids use to taunt him with. "Not only do you get to dance, watch girls sing in skimpy clothes, but you can fuck them too!"   
  
Kit resisted rolling his eyes at his friend's obvious lust. "For a price."  
  
"Mmmm. But the money is well spent," Henry said as he closed his eyes. He opened them again. "Ah, they say the prized whore is Silke. She's as soft as silk and the best lay in the country."   
  
"How…poetic."  
  
"Yes, well most men are drunk from alcohol and desire after wards so they're a little too preoccupied to really speak eloquently," Henry stated simply. "I've seen Silke, and I'd love to show her my bed."  
  
"The one in your parents house?" Kit asked, somewhat amused.  
  
Henry glared at him. "Of course not, Kit. I'd probably show her to your apartment and claim it as my own."  
  
"What if I was sleeping in it at the time?"  
  
"You won't be, because you'll be with your own prime piece back at the Scarlet Tower. If you are, and she wants you to join…hell, I'll sleep with you too if it means I still get to come into her."  
  
At the moment Kit wasn't sure to be disgusted, appalled, offended or amused. "She's that hot, huh?"  
  
"Red-gold hair, creamy skin, eyes so green you can see them from miles away."  
  
"I'll take your word on it, since you're the man admiring her from afar."  
  
"Every man admires her from afar. You know how much she's worth?" Henry asked.   
  
"How much?"  
  
"More than you or I or even your father could afford. Combined."  
  
"I think it's easier just to pick some one up at a bar," Kit said with a sigh. "It's cheaper."  
  
"Are you coming or not?" Henry asked, suddenly exasperated with his friend.  
  
Kit sighed, "Do I have much of a choice?"  
  
Henry grinned, "Course not. We still have to meet Ginny and Tye before we get there."  
  
"Bloody wonderful," Kit mumbled under his breath. "What's the point though? You don't have a chance with Satin."  
  
"Silke," Henry corrected him. "Because sometimes she offers a poor schlub a chance and gives herself to him instead of one of the higher ups."  
  
"For free?"  
  
"No. For the same amount, but that's not the point MacLaren."  
  
"Oh hell, I give up," Kit said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I'll just pretend to understand."  
  
"Good, now put on your best outfit- it's a classy place."  
  
"It sounds it."  
  
"Well dress up a little at least, look clean! You'll get lucky," Henry assured him, though the thought of sleeping with a whorehouse prostitute was rather repulsive to Kit. "You could be considered to be attractive…with the cleft in your chin and all…"  
  
"Thank you," Kit replied without sincerity. "Now if I have to dress up to go to the slums, I think I prefer to do it alone. Pick me up after you get the others."  
  
Henry beamed as he left, stopping only at the door to call to Kit. "You won't regret this!"  
  
Kit shut the door, feeling very much so that he would regret this. For this had the makings of changing his life forever. How, he didn't know. 


	3. Chapter Two

Part Two  
  
  
It was noisy, and smoky and Kit absolutely hated it. Skimpy clothes was saying too much for what the servers and dancers were wearing. And they were singing. It was like a very bad karaoke night.   
  
"Look like your enjoying yourself, please?" Kit and Henry's friend requested Kit. "Your unhappiness is leaking all around you and ruining my night!"  
  
Kit flashed a fake smile for him. "Appeased?"  
  
"Greatly," Ginny replied. "Now shush, Silke is on next."  
  
"You mean she isn't all ready in this mass of people?" Kit gestured to the people around them.  
  
Henry looked at him as if he were insane. "Of course not. She goes on solo. She's a sparkling diamond, when she's on no one else can compare to her."  
  
Kit stifled a groan, of all the things for Henry to wax poetic about…it had to be a prostitute.  
  
Suddenly the lights dimmed and a red spotlight shone on the curtain, where dancers previously had occupied, and then the curtain opened to reveal her.   
  
The reason Christian MacLaren was born.  
  
  
Silke hated this song. Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend mixed in with a little Material Girl. She liked it at first. A little less after the first year, and now she was in the vicinity of hate for it.   
  
The customers were the same, so why didn't they complain? Oh right, they liked to be reminded that her body could be bought for a price. A price some could afford.   
  
Silke saw Harry's signal for her costume change, she danced her way across the stage before ducking under the other dancer's skirts and looking expectedly at Harry.  
  
"Well, will he invest?" Some evil part of her hoped he wouldn't. Lord knew the last thing she wanted was some middle aged man pawing at her.  
  
"After a night with you, Kay? How could he refuse?" Harry's confidence in her was a bit unsettling, especially since it was invested in something so fleeting- her beauty.   
  
She held her breath as Marguerite tightened her new costume on her. Oh, why couldn't they have gay investors? "Which one is he?"  
  
"Hold on, darling," Harry told her, "Wait until we're back out there."  
  
Silke would have replied but at the current moment Marguerite was pulling long hair out from its former arrangement so it hung loose down her shoulders. She hated these the most- no mirror to make sure you looked desirable enough.  
  
She counted to three before popping back up singing again. Another instrumental break, Harry discreetly pointed out the investor for her.  
  
Unfortunately for Silke, it happened to be a dizzy spell for her and she swayed slightly, the world blurring before her eyes before she composed her self. She looked to where she believed Harry to be pointing.   
  
Well now that wasn't so bad. Black hair, looked closer to her age than the rest and unless she was mistaken a cleft in his chin. She didn't give Harry a second glance as he disappeared backstage. Silke knew how to finish the show.   
  
She slid, which was easy with the slippers she wore, to the table where he was sitting. "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?"  
  
His blue eyes widened, as if he were shocked. Then they blinked, as if indecisive. Men were such fickle creatures. "Oui, mademoiselle." Then seemed surprised by his own answer.   
  
Silke leaned down, the front of her costume dipping down to show her cleavage as she gave him instructions as to where to go.   
  
She gave him one last smile before finishing the song. Tonight may not be so bad after all.  
  
  
What ever on earth possessed Kit to say yes to the delectable Silke's offer, he did not know. Scratch that, he did know. Pure, unadulterated lust. At twenty-five he had just hoped he had under control so that he didn't end up spending two months rent on a pretty face and nice body.   
  
So now he was standing in a boudoir that reminded him a little of the interior of a Victoria's Secret except it was done in red and not in pink. Thank god for small favors.  
  
Maybe he should tell Miss Silke of the misunderstanding. He didn't mean to say yes, it sort of slipped out of its own accord. She must get that a lot…ogled and lusted after so many men that she'd understand.   
  
Not that she wasn't attractive, because no one could dispute that fact, but because he was poor. His father disinherited and disowned him for coming to America, so he made his money off of writing school plays.   
  
My goodness, he sounded pathetic even to himself. Besides there was that pact he had made with himself to never make love to a woman again without being in love with her first.   
  
What was he thinking? She was a high-class prostitute. She was probably filled with vernal diseases and illegitimate children. Just because she aroused him as no woman had before was no reason to lose sight of logic and reason.  
  
He heard the doorknob turn and he held his breath. Kit was so sure of his plan, well of course, that was before he saw her again. Then all reasoning left the room. 


	4. Chapter Three

Part Three  
  
  
When Silke opened the door and saw the young investor there, she bit back a gasp. He was early, she thanked the-powers-that-be that she'd at least changed into her costume beforehand. Silke stole a quick look of longing at the bag that held her book, but then back at the investor. Maybe she wouldn't need it tonight.  
  
"Good evening," She greeted him, now fully in her vixen mode, no matter how much her back ached.  
  
"Uh, hi," he replied, somewhat awkwardly.  
  
Oh, so he was one of those. Maybe Harry should have asked Trixi for this gig, her specialty was being a dominatrix. But then again it would be an insult to an investor to give them something other than the best. Suddenly the image of her being past from one slimy investor to the next popped unbidden in to her mind. Oh no, she was going to be sick.  
  
"A-are you all right?" He asked it was almost sweet the way he looked concerned.  
  
Silke waited for the wave of nausea to pass, and when it did, she smiled again. "I'm fine, and how about yourself? You look a little nervous, darling. We'll have to fix that, now won't we?"  
  
That seemed to make him even nervous. Good Lord, he wasn't a virgin, was he? "It's just that you're a pr…"  
  
"Oh!" Silke understood what he meant, and wanted to applaud his intelligence and foresight. "I'm clean. I have my report from just last month if you'd like to take a look at it." Damn, she sounded so scientific, but it was true. She got tested every few months, though her damned medical bills were going to be the death of her. No matter that she was paying for the very same thing that saved her life.  
  
He seemed to relax just the slightest at her announcements. "Oh well then."  
  
She studied him under lashes as she slid onto the bed. It was a firm mattress, which she hated but it was a lot better than the waterbed. The first time she performed on a waterbed she nearly lost her lunch. When she mentioned to Harry her habit of getting sea sick, he always made sure she didn't get the waterbed.  
  
He played with his sleeve buttons nervously as he stood by the window he looked…well, adorable.   
  
"Are you…all right?" She asked after a few moments. Maybe Trixi wasn't what he needed; maybe they ought to have summoned Chocolat. Damn shame to womankind, though.  
  
"Y-yes I'm fine," He glanced out the window and suddenly Elton John's "Your Song" popped into her mind.  
  
And she wasn't sure if she'd actually heard the song before, just heard of it. It was so surreal she wanted to giggle. The urge was odd- she never wanted to giggle. The last time she had giggled or even felt the urge was when she was seventeen and in church. The priest was three sheets to the wind, and kept sipping his wind throughout the service. That and he mixed up his words. She finally lost it when he said "hamel care" instead of "camel hair". The old biddy next to her said she was destined to a life of sin.  
  
That part of the memory sobered her a little. Enough to get back into her vixen mood, at least.  
  
"Why don't you come over here so we can…" What sounded seemingly innocent? "Get to know each other better."  
  
He took a step forward and then another one back. "I can't do this."  
  
A groan escaped her and she fell completely back onto the bed.  
  
"I'm sorry?" He offered. He was standing over her on the edge of the bed now.  
  
Silke sat up, her some of her red-gold hair falling over her face. "No-no-no. It's not your fault, a'tall."  
  
"Nor is it yours," He was quick to assure her. "It's just that I'm…"  
  
"Gay?" The words slipped out of her mouth before she could even think about them.  
  
His eyes widened. "No! Broke."  
  
She felt light headed again. "Broke? But you're…"  
  
"Absolutely penniless," He supplied.  
  
"B-but," She stuttered.   
  
"I've had to do a bunch of odd jobs to support myself when I write."  
  
"A writer?" Silke repeated dumbly. "Not investor?"  
  
"What investor?" He looked confused.  
  
Silke stood up. "No! The investor! You have to go…"  
  
"Christian," Kit supplied.  
  
"Christian, just go. Out the window!"  
  
"We're three stories up!" Kit reminded her.   
  
"Shhh!" She hushed him. Harry was going to kill her and she was going to get kicked out of her apartment. Then she was going to end up as a street prostitute with no condoms or birth control pills at her disposal. "Just hide!"  
  
"Where?" He whispered to her.  
  
"Oh I don't know…" She scanned the room quickly and spotted the closet. "The closet- over there!"  
  
Christian looked reluctant but he did what he was told. Silke quickly fixed herself before opening the door to reveal Harry and the real investor.   
  
"Silke! Where were you?" Harry asked her, walking into the room and pulling a strawberry blonde, middle aged man with him.   
  
"I was preparing," she replied smoothly, smiling seductively- God, she hoped it was but at this point she wasn't sure.  
  
"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Silke," The investor stepped forward and kissed her hand.   
  
"I'm sure the pleasure will be all mine Mr…?"  
  
"Richard McPhee," He supplied for her. "But all my friends call me Riches."  
  
The greedy part of her made her smile wider. "Thank you for bringing Riches to me, Harry. But I hardly think Mr. McPhee and I need a chaperone." Or at least another one, Silke added silently.  
  
Harry said his goodbyes, winked at Riches and then left the room. Locking them both inside. Actually, all three of them.  
  
"Do you always handle everything so…beautifully?" Riches asked as he shed his coat.   
  
"I have a way of getting what I want," She cooed. Yes, this is whom she had been expecting earlier and Christian had to throw her off kilter. She couldn't perform with someone listening. She did have some scruples.  
  
He smiled the smile of a man who had just been given his favorite treat in ten-fold. Then his eyes went over her scantily clad body. "Well, my lady, do with me what you want."  
  
She raised an eyebrow at this, illuminating her supposed doubt at the implication that such a powerful man would want a mere slip of a woman to overpower him. Secretly she was glad he was giving her the power, she could handle him to leave without getting what he came for, and then she could get Christian out. But Riches had to get what he wanted still.  
  
Silke took a step forward and in a well practiced move she wrapped her arms around his neck, stood on her toes and kissed him, making their bodies sway left to right.  
  
Riches moaned, and Silke nearly sighed. Apparently the pleasure would be all his. She wished that she could have had the chance to read the romance novel beforehand. He was ready, she would be wet and it could all be over within a quarter of the hour. Then she could go home and freeze. But eat something she was starving.  
  
Suddenly Riches was in control again because she found herself on her back, lying on the bed. Ah yes, one of those. Liked to give the impression of handing over the power but in truth kept it for themselves the entire time. Plus he seemed to have lost a few articles of clothing and her see through robe was gone. Well, that's what she got for woolgathering.   
  
"Oh Riches," She gave him a moan for good measure. Stretched as she arched her back, rolled her head to her side and pulled the drawer on the nightstand open before slamming it shut again.   
  
The sound startled him so much that he stopped what he was doing- unbuttoning his pants- and looked down at her.  
  
Silke pushed her lower lip out into a pout, "Oh Riches, that awful…" Oh hell, who could she blame? "Nina has used up my supply. She's always stealing condoms from me."  
  
Oh he looked angry and frustrated. "Really?"  
  
She nodded, "Do you think you could do us a huge favor and get some from Harry's office? I promise that the wait will definitely be worth it."  
  
Riches took a few minutes to regain his composure before climbing off her and putting his shirt back on. "I'll be back in a few moments, dear."  
  
Then he left, and Silke let out a breath of relief. She moved up and ripped open the closet door. She had to get Christian out of there and fast. 


	5. Chapter Four

Part Four  
  
"You're going to sleep with him?" The words fell out of Kit's mouth before he could stop them.  
  
She looked very much like she wanted to roll her eyes, but instead she let out an exasperated breath and pulled him out of the closet. "It's what I'm paid for." Kit couldn't help but take notice that when she was worried she bit her lip in the most adorable way. "Damnation, I feel like I'm sixteen again."  
  
Kit's head snatched up, "You were a prostitute at sixteen?"  
  
"No, seventeen," Silke answered absently, tugging on his arm.  
  
"You'd like for me to leave?" He asked innocently, trying to buy time.  
  
Her green eyes flared with anger. "You may like to watch, but I don't like to watch. Get back before you make me lose my job!"  
  
"I don't like to watch," Kit informed her.  
  
She glared at him, damn it all, when was the duke coming back? Duke? Where did that come, the investor. The boy was making her all weird.  
  
He was indecisive and Silke could tell so she took the incentive and opened the door, and grabbed him by the elbow. "Look, Christian I'm sure you're a great guy. But I really need to do my job tonight." With that she shut the door, and sighed before falling back onto the bed. It was going to be a long night.  
  
[I]Yes, I know what you're all thinking but no, she didn't sleep with Riches. Us animals aren't the only ones that work with fate, the powers that be also lend a hand when a hand is needed.   
  
Speaking of which, when Kit returned to his friends, Harry was there and was being filled in by Kit's immense writing talents. One of the reasons ol' Riches was called in was because they wanted to revamp the Scarlet Tower. So they needed newer, fresher songs. So he was rather glad to see Kit there at the moment. Especially since Kit was young and rather inexperienced, he could get him for a cheap price.  
  
I'll admit that I'm not completely unbiased about my charges. Satine was great, she had spunk and ambition. Not that Silke is lacking those things, but because of the women movements in the past century she's a little more aware. Back then it was marriage or selling your body or no sexual contact a'tall. Now-a-days people live in "sin" without so much of a blink of an eye. Because of this, Silke was a lot lonelier than Satine ever was.  
  
Satine believed that her only lot in life was to please men for money. Silke knows there's more out there, just inaccessible to her. Christian believed blindly in truth, beauty, freedom and love. Kit's a little more wary because of the facts people no longer try to hide.  
  
The kids these days are far too wary and a lot has happened to Silke. I know because she talks to me far more than Satine ever did. The girl's in dire straits, trust me I live in the apartment. Even with my feathers I'm freezing my beak off. She needs to make money any way possible. Which really does put a blot in my little plan for love.  
  
But Harry just made it a whole lot easier. Come here, I'll tell you a little secret. Silke called in sick today. She's not really sick, more hungry. The kid works so hard that she doesn't have a lot of time to eat. And when she does she can usually afford only soup and Raman Noodles.  
  
Plus she has this new idea of how to get money, which involves tearing her apartment out, looking for things sell. She couldn't make her heat bill this month so she's a little sick of being cold. But considering what happened a few years ago to Silke, Harry wants to make sure his little songbird is just suffering from a twenty-four hour thing. He can't spare any of the prostitutes so he asks the seemingly harmless new writer to make sure that Silke's doin' fine.  
  
I love it when the humans make my job easier. One look at Silke as herself and the boy'll be as persistent as his former self. Just you wait. Now shush, I have a show to watch...  
  
I've been waiting years for the new Christian James to come into the new Satine Desmergers life. Now that they're there, I'm letting nothing go wrong. 


	6. Chapter Five

Part Five  
  
Silke crinkled her nose in distaste as she held up the offendable garment. She turned to Spectacular. "Must sell that, no?" She sighed as she folded it before placing it in the box. "Fifteen more yard sales and I think I'll be able to pay the heat bill." Or twenty.  
  
"Who could that be?" She asked herself, as there was a knock on the door. "Probably just Harry." She was going crazy that could be the only explanation for why she was talking to a bird and herself. Then she thought she must be when she saw Kit standing on the other side.  
  
Kit wasn't sure what he expected but it wasn't this Silke. She had on dark blue jeans, a blue pinstripe shirt and her hair was pulled back in a French braid.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Can I help you?" She asked politely.  
  
"Oh, we met last night...." His voice trailed off in embarrassment.  
  
"I remember Christian," She said, studying him. "What are you doing at my apartment?"  
  
"Right, Harry sent me to see if you were okay."  
  
"Harry sent you?" She asked in disbelief, yet still stepped aside to let him in.  
  
"Yeah well he hired the other night to write the new songs," Kit explained further.  
  
"Oh!" Silke replied, understanding. "Well congratulations. Oh, and I'm fine. I was just dizzy this morning and not in the mood to dance and sing all night."  
  
"It's cold in here," Kit commented.  
  
"As I was just noticing," Silke muttered under her breath.  
  
Awkward silence ensued and Kit stared down at his feet.  
  
"Do you enjoy that life style?" He blurted out.  
  
No. The denial was instant in her mind, but outwardly she said, "Well whatever pays the bills, right?"  
  
"What happens when you fall in love?"  
  
Silke chuckled slightly and gave him a small smile. "I can't fall in love with anyone."  
  
"But a life without love that's terrible!" Where had those words come from?  
  
"A life without security and health is terrible," She countered.  
  
"All you need is love!" Again the words fell out of his mouth without him meaning to. If he was going to do this with music, which had been said to reach people on different levels, he may as well do it right. He just hoped he still knew how to sing. "First time I saw your face  
  
My heart just erased  
  
All the girls I knew  
  
Before you walked into my life"  
  
There was that urge again, to giggle. She knew just as many songs. "It's gonna be sad, it's gonna be true."  
  
"I can see it in your eyes  
  
that you still despise the same old lies  
  
you heard the night before  
  
And though it's just a line to you  
  
for me it's true  
  
it never seemed so right before"  
  
Oh, that was too easy. "And then you go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like `I love you'."  
  
"And I'm sitting down here just watching you,  
  
And I'm thinking:  
  
Where is all the love gone?  
  
Where's the love gone to?"  
  
"The sweet words you whispered  
  
Didn't mean a thing  
  
I guess our song is over  
  
As we begin to sing"  
  
She was going to be hard to persuade, he could tell. "If lovin' you is wrong, I don't wanna be right."  
  
Her smile was almost wistful, he was getting to her. "Someday you'll know why I wasn't meant for you."  
  
"Someday you'll know that I was the one for you," He countered.  
  
Hmm, she was stumped there, so she just opened her mouth and let it come out naturally. "You'd think that people would have heard enough of silly love songs."  
  
"I look around and I see it isn't so," he replied softly. "Oh, no. Love lifts up where we belong!"  
  
"Love makes us act like we are fools," she retorted. "Throw our lives away for one happy day."  
  
"Let's make it a night to remember! January to December!" He proclaimed.  
  
"It's a one night love affair, then pretend like we don't care..." she argued weakly. "And then we're left with nothin'."  
  
"Come to me  
  
And I'll surrender my love to you  
  
Give in to your dreams  
  
And remember my love is true  
  
Come, we'll explore  
  
Forbidden passions together."  
  
Silke bit her lip, good lord she knew she wanted to. The way he said it, the way he looked...she wanted to believe all you needed was love. She should know better. Really shouldn't. So the song she used to counter him, well she didn't know where that came from a'tall. "All the fear has left me now  
  
I'm not frightened anymore  
  
It's my heart that pounds beneath my flesh  
  
it's my mouth that pushes out this breath"  
  
He knew she had her, for he cupped her chin with his hand, and said softly. "I won't fear love."  
  
"You're going to be bad for business, I can tell," and then he kissed her, making her forget that she even had spoken the words and the mind numbing déjà vu.  
  
Play List:  
  
I Love You- Faith Evans  
  
It's Gonna Be Love- Mandy Moore  
  
Something Stupid- Frank and Nancy Sinatra  
  
Don't Leave- Faithless  
  
Could've Been- Mandy Moore  
  
If Lovin' You is Wrong- Faithless  
  
Someday We'll Know- New Radicals  
  
Someday We'll Know- New Radicals  
  
Elephant Love Medley  
  
ELM  
  
ELM  
  
Let's Make It A Night To Remember- Bryan Adams  
  
One Night Love Affair- Bryan Adams  
  
Surrender- Kylie Minogue  
  
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy- Sarah McLachlan 


	7. Chapter Six

1 Part Six  
  
[I]I know, real sweet isn't it? Two kids finding their way to true love in this frightening world we live in. I don't expect the path to be easy. It wouldn't be true love it were easy…There's still Riches, Harry and Silke's annoying- but endearing- habit of repaying all her debts. And she has a big one to pay to Harry.  
  
Not to mention the money problem. Let me tell you a little secret…Silke, well she never had much growing up, so she has a particular weak spot when it comes to money. Not to say she's greedy, but she does like having enough money to support herself. The slightest sense of security.  
  
Not to mention after years of being pumped, paid and then dumped has left Silke at a loss of what to do for the real thing. Never fear, Kit's just the person she needs in her life.  
  
Just as Christian was exactly what Satine needed. [/I]  
  
  
  
"And this is Diamond Alley," Silke gestured to the long row of jewelry stores that marked the street. She scrunched her nose, "Or is it area?"  
  
Kit laughed, "I'm sorry but you are the worst tour guide I've ever had."  
  
She sighed dramatically, releasing her hand from his to throw her arms up. "We wouldn't be in this predicament if you'd had been introduced properly when you first came to the City." Silke ignored the diamonds as they exited the Diamond Alley. "My goodness why I remember when I first came to America…"  
  
Kit cut her off. "Excuse me? You aren't native?"  
  
Her eyes widened as she realized her mistake. "Oh no. That's the first time I've ever done that!" Silke voice changed into a lilt he was more accustomed to in the security of the U.K. An English girl, it was almost funny. "Let's ignore that now."  
  
"Let's not," He countered, grabbing her arm and pulled her to his side. "Now tell me how you came so impeccably American."  
  
She sighed. "I wanted to be an actress when I was younger. I studied everyone's accent and got very good at parroting them."  
  
"And what happened to that dream?" Kit asked her.  
  
"It's easier to get out of the slums of London selling your sex than trying to get into RADA," Silke shrugged indifferently.  
  
"Oh." He didn't know how to reply to that.  
  
"You're not comfortable with it, are you?" She asked softly, trying to look into his eyes. "It's okay, I probably wouldn't be either."  
  
He sighed, "What are you going to do now?"  
  
"Now what?" She asked, blinking.  
  
"About…um, your job?"  
  
"Oh!" Silke shifted uncomfortably. "Christian…I have to. I need money."  
  
"There are other jobs out there," Kit pointed out.  
  
She laughed bitterly. "Of course there are, MacLaren. You know, until the guys start looking at you half strangely and half in lust. And then it dons on them why you look so familiar and delectable. They remember where it must have been they've seen me before. Oh, and suddenly I'm not one to be wooed in the office. I have no right to being wooed. Instead I'm backed up to the wall in the stockroom, ripe for the plucking. If not that, then women start noticing the lust in the men's eyes and fire me out of jealousy."  
  
"But…"  
  
"And besides," Silke added. "I can't leave the Scarlet Tower. I owe Harry."  
  
This just made him even more confused. "For what? Getting you the job at the club?"  
  
She shook her head. "No. Look, I'm sorry Christian but that's just something I'd really rather not talk about." She looked around before dropping her bag on the ground. Silke winked at him, she really needed to lighten the mood. She hated herself for even knowing the lyrics to this song…but it was rather appropriate. "Everyday I wake up/To another day gone by/Nothing but the open road/And a never ending why."  
  
Silke wanted to sigh with relief as she coaxed a small smile out of Kit, and a few quarters from a passing pedestrian. "Anything can happen yeah/But nothing never does/I try to change/It's kind of strange/The same as it ever was/But look at us." She was starting to draw a crowd right now, but she had never suffered from stage fright before. "How do I deal with you/How do I deal with me/When I Don't even know myself/Or what it is you want from me/How do I deal with us/How do I know what's real/When I don't even trust myself/Or what it is I feel/How do I deal?"  
  
She looked down at her shopping bag that had a few random coins and dollar bills in it. Hmm…maybe she should have been a street performer. Silke grinned at Kit, and he smiled more. She liked this better than the awkward conversation before. "Every night in the dark/I lie awake in bed/How am I supposed to dream/With all the static in my head/(Torn in all) torn in all (in all) directions (directions)/And I pray for some relief/What can I do but feel the weight I'm underneath/And grit my teeth/How do I deal with love/Why do I why do I have to choose/Everybody's telling me/What the hell I have to do/How do I deal with us/How do I know what's real/When I don't even trust myself/Or what it is I feel/Now how do I deal/(How do I deal with you)/How do I deal with you/(How do I deal with me)/When I don't even know myself/Or what it is you want from me/(How do I deal with love)/How do I deal/(Why do I have to choose)/When everybody's telling me/What the hell I have to do/(How do I deal with you)/How do I deal with you/(How do I deal with me)/How do I deal with me/When I don't even know myself/Or what it is you want from me."  
  
She bowed before the cheering crowd before turning back to Kit. "Shall be make a grand exit?" Silke asked before bending to pick up her shopping bag. He stopped her.  
  
"I got a better idea…" He had this song stuck in his head ever since he met Silke but it wasn't appropriate for either his job at the school or at the club. "Never knew I could feel like this/Like I've never seen the sky before/I want to vanish inside your kiss/Every day I love you more and more/Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing/Telling me to give you everything/Seasons may change, winter to spring/But I love you until the end of time." The crowd aww'd and Silke smiled softly as he took his hands in hers. "Come what may/Come what may/I will love you until my dying day."  
  
Silke picked up during his break. "Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place/Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace/Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste/It all revolves around you."  
  
Their voices melded together in perfect melody. "And there's no mountain too high/No river too wide/Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side/Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide/But I love you until the end of time." The world disappeared around them and suddenly it was just the two of them. "Come what may, come what may/I will love you until my dying day/Oh, come what may/Come what may/I will love you, I will love you/Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place/Come what may/Come what may/I will love you until my dying day." They ended the song with an impassioned kiss.  
  
For now, the world was a perfect place… 


	8. Chapter Seven

1 Part Seven  
  
Silke sighed as she sat down in a chair next to Chocolat, facing the stage. "I feel ridiculous."  
  
He looked at her outfit of an oversized long sleeve red shirt that held a picture of the New York skyline and her biker shorts, along with her hair in a messy ponytail, and shrugged. "You look less ridiculous than usual."  
  
She laughed, "True enough, Choc."  
  
"So is Kit going to write a new song for your piece?" Chocolat asked, stealing a look over at where Kit was writing something, while half listening to Harry's suggestions.  
  
Silke stole a look took, but for different reasons than Chocolat's, before shaking her head in a negative response. "No we've- Harry- has found the 'perfect' song for me. It's by Amiel."  
  
"Meet Me In The Red Room?" This was more statement than question since he all ready had a good idea what the answer was.  
  
"Of course," She looked down at her worn ballet slippers. "Choc? Do you find these sexy?"  
  
Chocolat cracked a smile, "Very much so, Miss Kay."  
  
She gave him an impish grin. "You think we could convince Harry of that? I should say the blisters I get from the three inchers are very unbecoming."  
  
"I think Harry finds the three inchers sexier than ballet slippers," he pointed out.  
  
"Harry finds anything belonging to a vagina sexy," Silke mock pouted. She sighed as she was called up to rehearse. "Wish me luck, Chocolat."  
  
"Always."  
  
Silke climbed the few steps that brought her to the edge of the stage. Grabbed a top hat and cane and winked at Kit as she made her way to the center. Nina and Ari took their places behind her. Tipping her top hat down, and leaning on the cane. Silke prepared her for her part. Background music sounded, and the trapeze was lowered.  
  
"I'll meet you in the red room. Close the door and dim the lights. I will be yours truly if indeed the price is right." She made the necessary dance steps to get to the trapeze before hopping on it. "So draw your sword. Be my king. Let your passions rise and sing. Just show me the diamonds and I'll let you wear my ring." She wiggled her right hand at the "audience". "So just lay down beside me. Let us consummate."  
  
Nina and Ari chimed in, "Consummate."  
  
"I know you're plastic. Let me help you deflate."  
  
"Help you deflate."  
  
"If you want to plug in for a high voltage connection, show me cold hard cash and I will turn on my affection." She maneuvered the trapeze; it felt good doing a routine. Especially when it was a different song, made it seem almost new.  
  
With an ease and grace that she perfected over the years, she slid off the trapeze and back onto the stage. "And we'll oooo nuh. uh-huh"  
  
"Ah ah."  
  
Silke twirled pointing her cane towards the audience. "Do you wanna have fun? I'll let you."  
  
"Ah ah ah."  
  
"Just a little. Oh." She walked down the steps, teasing the would-be crowds. "So don't hesitate. I won't kiss and tell. No need to worry 'cause I--" She giggled. "I'm a professional." Retreating back up the steps onto the stage, Silke continued the song. "The show can start as soon as I see money on the table. I've an empty space to fill. I'm willing if you're able."  
  
She retreated as Nina and Ari moved to the front. "And we'll oooo uh- huh. Do you wanna have fun? I'll let you. Just a little. Oh."  
  
Silke and her backups switched places again so she could be on center stage. "I'll meet you in the red room. Close the door and dim the lights. I will be yours truly if indeed the price is right." She drew off her hat and tossing it off to the side, along with her cane. "So draw your sword. Be my king. Let your passions rise and sing. Just show me the diamonds and I'll let you wear my ring." With a wink she exited stage left. How she loved the stage.  
  
Kit tried to concentrate on his work, but he couldn't help but notice the sudden chill of finalization when Silke had sung "Meet Me In The Red Room". As if his life was once again going to be changed. And not for the better, and he was sure that feeling was justified when Riches McPhee entered the club.  
  
"Excellent, darling," Riches clapped for effect.  
  
Silke smiled widely as she stepped off from the stage and towards Riches. "Better than Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend?"  
  
Riches kissed Silke on the lips, causing Kit to look away and attempt to focus on his work.  
  
"I am assured that anything you do will be most magnificent, indeed."  
  
"My thanks," Silke said, starting to return to backstage.  
  
"Wait," Riches said, and Silke paused in mid-step. "Are you busy tonight?"  
  
Silke turned around, face apologetic. "I am. I have this second job to go to, that I really shouldn't miss."  
  
"Well I'll come around again soon, seeing if we both have a clear night at the same time," Riches told her.  
  
She smiled, turned back around, winked at Kit and then returned to backstage. She had to make this work. Somehow… 


	9. Chapter Eight

1 Part Eight  
  
  
  
"I'm not sure if I like to be referred to as a second job," Kit commented as soon as Silke opened her door.  
  
Silke arched an eyebrow as she allowed him to come in. "What makes you think I was joking about that?"  
  
"What would that be then?" Kit asked as he followed Silke into her kitchen.  
  
She gestured to the sewing machine on top of the table. "Ta-da! I help Marguerite fixing some of the costumes. With the reopening happening, we have some costumes that need a new look to them."  
  
"I never took you for a seamstress," He said as he sat across from her as she adjusted the fabric.  
  
Silke grinned at him. "I dye the girl's hair too. No one dares to do it them self since Nina attempted to be blonde and ended up orange."  
  
"Is your hair…?"  
  
She shook her head, "All natural, if you could believe that. Not many people do."  
  
"I believe you."  
  
"Well you are different Monsieur Christian," Silke reminded him, still talking yet not looking up from her task.  
  
"What about the name?" Kit asked, leaning forward. "Silke can not be your true name."  
  
She snorted, "Sorry honey, but it's been that way since my mother penned it on my birth certificate."  
  
"Truly?"  
  
"Truly," Silke reinstated. "My mother was an extremely materialistic woman. The 'universe' was telling her to name me Satin though, and she started righting that down, but after the 'S' she changed it to Silk because Satin sounded too much like Satan. But the funny thing is that she meant to right my name S-I-L-K, but she has this extremely loopy writing and it turned out as S-I-L-K-E. So if I had been named Satin, I would probably Satine."  
  
"That's kind of funny," Kit told her. "Have you ever heard of that book 'Love At The Moulin Rouge'?"  
  
She racked her brain for a moment, "Oh yes, it's by that bohemian writer friend of Toulouse-Lautrec. Right? Um, Christian James."  
  
He nodded, "Yes, that story 'inspired' my parents to marry. Their parents disapproved of the match, but after reading that book they decided that nothing mattered but love, so they named me after the writer."  
  
"Interesting," Silke noted. "But still not understanding the funny part of it."  
  
"You've never read it?"  
  
"I tend to stay away from hooker-saved-by-love storylines," She admitted. "I've never even seen Pretty Woman."  
  
"Well," Kit began, "Christian's true love, his courtesan, was named Satine. She was the Moulin Rouge's Sparkling Diamond."  
  
Silke shook her head, "Not funny, creepy. I almost ended up at the Moulin Rouge."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Well I told you how I was from London, right?" At his nod, Silke continued. "I became a mistress at seventeen. There was this high school senior, who was richer than God, and he offered to support me if I slept with him. He gave me a gift of my choice each time I performed a favor for him. Well he had to go off to college, and he was going to study in Paris, and offered to bring me along with the ride. So I was going to audition at the Moulin Rouge, because I can be a showgirl. But, his father was setting up business in New York, and offered to bring me there. I was to be his 'assistant', but in truth his mistress. He paid me an assistant's wage every week. So I figured that the Rouge gig was a maybe, whereas his father's offer was a lot more stable. Beside, if he tired of me or had to get rid of me because his wife found out, then I could easily find a job in New York." She paused in her story to stop the machine and pull out the finished costume. "Which is what happened. It was through his dealings I met Harry and ended up at the Scarlet Tower."  
  
Kit blinked, "So you slept with the son…and then slept with the father?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"That's…"  
  
"Life," She stated matter-of-factly. "It's not as awful as it sounds, Kit. Kevin was almost like a friend to me, and his father, Denis was very kind. In fact, I prefer being a mistress than a prostitute. There's more stability, but then again there's not, depending on whether or not the wife finds out. I only left Denis for the Scarlet Tower because I love to sing and dance."  
  
"Sorry, it just sounds like a horrible way to grow up."  
  
Silke shrugged, "Some times were more horrible than other. But look…I am relatively getting by and I'm healthy right now. The only thing I want from life is stability."  
  
"What about love?" His voice was barely audible.  
  
Silke sighed as she shut down the sewing machine. "Christian…you've given me that. I always thought it was something I wouldn't miss because I never had, but it is splendid. Irreplaceable."  
  
Kit gave her a tentative smile. "You make it sound fleeting."  
  
"Everything is."  
  
"It doesn't have to be," He pointed out.  
  
Her smile was sad. "It has to be. I need stability. Neither you nor I alone could offer me that. I need my job."  
  
"Why do you owe Harry?" Kit blurted out. "Henry mentioned you were gone for a year, does that have something to do with it?"  
  
Silke averted his gaze. "It does." She held up a hand. "Don't ask me about it, because I don't want to talk about it."  
  
"Were you pregnant?"  
  
She laughed bitterly, "I wish. You have no idea how much I wish that was the case. I long for a family, but it's never to be, Kit. I can't afford it nor could I raise a child in the same way I was raised."  
  
"Then what was it, Silke?" He stood up.  
  
"Please, Christian, leave it be as something I don't want to talk about it," Silke stood up also, taking his hand in hers. "Can we leave it be? For now? Maybe one day I'll tell you…but I just can't right now."  
  
Kit had this awful feeling he was being seduced into letting the subject drop, but he didn't want to fight with her. Not tonight. Not ever. "For tonight."  
  
Silke smiled as she kissed him. "Let's retire, shall we?"  
  
At his nod, she led him down the hall and into her bedroom. 


	10. Chapter Nine

1 Part Nine  
  
  
  
Silke had just managed to lace up her ballet slippers when Harry came over to greet her.  
  
"I'm not running late," She told him automatically. "For once I am running right on schedule."  
  
Harry helped her up, and pulled her off to the side. "You're going to have to sacrifice your ontimeness right now."  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Well for one," Harry glowered. Generally Harry was a happy-go-lucky person, so Silke knew she was fucked. "Riches McPhee is growing impatient with waiting for you. Waiting for a whore! Can you imagine that? I know you're a fan of anticipation, Kay, but this is making things go a little too far."  
  
Silke smiled as brightly as she could, at an attempt to try and mollify Harry. "Harry! There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this…"  
  
"Who is he?" Harry cut her off.  
  
Silke unconsciously took a step back. "Whose who?"  
  
"The musician or writer you're dallying with," Harry ground out. "Trust me Kay, are you sure this man is worth your life?"  
  
"Harry! Don't be ridiculous…" Silke attempted. "Have you ever known for me to give it out for free?"  
  
"Not until now," He told her, crossing his arms. "May I remind you of our arrangement, darling?"  
  
Silke looked down at her ballet slippers. "No you need not to, Harold. I'm still here, aren't I?"  
  
"You're here all right," He agreed. "But you're not making any money rehearsing, Kay. Tomorrow night do your job right by Riches or say goodbye to your job. If you no longer work for me, I expect to be paid in full by week's end." Harry gave her a pointed leer. "Of course, there are other ways to pay back that particular debt, poppet."  
  
Silke took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "I'll have bedded Riches by tomorrow, I promise you Harry."  
  
Harry grinned, the sort of grin that assured her that everything was okay for now. "Splendid, darling! Make sure to say good bye to the penniless lover, I don't need any more close calls like that any more."  
  
She bit her lip as she nodded. Harry kissed her on the forehead before exiting.  
  
Silke no longer wanted to rehearse. At the moment she wanted to be honest with herself. She climbed the steps to the stage, disappeared behind the wall, to the control room, and whispered something into the musician's ear. At his nod, she returned to the stage.  
  
"No I would not sleep in this bed of lies," Or at least not if she had a choice. This song, at the moment, fit with her thoughts far too perfectly. "So toss me out and turn in. And there'll be no rest for these tired eyes. I'm marking it down to learning, I am." It was the only Silke seemed to be able to do in this situation.  
  
She began a slow trek across the stage. "Don't think that I can take another empty moment." No more of Kit's poetry, no more laughter…no more love. "Don't think that I can fake another hollow smile," As if to prove her point, she attempted to smile, only to have it crumble. "It's not enough just to be lonely. Don't think that I could take another talk about it."  
  
"Just like me you got needs, and they're only a whisper away." As long as she wasn't there, she could never fulfill his dreams of true love. "And we softly surrender, to these lives that we've tendered away." She had to, there was no way out.  
  
"No I would not sleep in this bed of lies, so toss me out and turn in. And they'll be no rest for these tired eyes. I'm marking it down to learning, I am."  
  
From some buried part of her mind, she did some ballet moves that her mother had taught her eons ago. She was surprised that she could even remember that life.  
  
"Don't wanna be the one who turns the whole thing over," She didn't want to end things with Christian. She had thought herself prepared to leave him…but she didn't want to. "Don't wanna be somewhere where I just don't belong," Silke knew she didn't belong at the Scarlet Tower. Damn her honor, if only she could… "Where it's not enough just be sorry."  
  
Silent tears started to streak down her face. She ignored them. "Don't you know I feel the darkness closing in?" Her life was returning to its regular routine and she hated it. Christian was the light of her life. "Tried to be more than me," By God that was true. She had tried…and failed miserably and now she was back where she was but more depressed. "And I gave 'til it all went away. And we've only surrendered to the worst part of these winters we've made."  
  
Annoyed with herself, she halfheartedly attempted to wipe away the tears, but gave up and went back to the song. "I am all that I'll ever be," She was a prostitute, and she could never be anything more. This was her destiny. "When you - lay your hands over me," Oh how that had felt like her destiny, for a little while, in his arms she had found peace. She thought she had found her fate. "But don't go weak on me now. I know that it's weak but God help me I need this," She needed Kit and his optimism. Most of all she needed his love. "I will not sleep in this bed of lies." Damn Harry and herself. She collapsed into a sitting position as the musician faded the song away. She scrubbed at her tear-streaked face with her sleeve. Sighing she stood up, she had to get this over with- now or never.  
  
What did it matter? It wasn't like she ever deserved Christian anyway…  
  
Chocolat, who had been watching from the shadows of the curtain stepped forward as Silke ran from the stage.  
  
"I'm sorry Miss Kay," He whispered, before leaving himself. There had a many things to do before the opening tomorrow night…  
  
  
  
SONG USED: Bed of Lies by Matchbox Twenty 


	11. Chapter Ten

Part Ten  
  
[I]  
  
No! No! No! Not again!  
  
Damn the British honor. It got them in trouble in earlier centuries with their ridiculous duels, and now it has Silke lying to Kit, just because she owes Harry.  
  
Oh fine, she really does owe Harry for something, and I'm grateful for what he did to her. But this is not how it is suppose to turn out!  
  
Has the new millennium never heard of 'Happily ever after'? Must they all be destined to being lonely and bitter, relying only on their claim of martyr?  
  
I wish I was more than a love bird, at least when Sam, that's a dog…he had a similar task to mine, had trouble with his two star-crossed lovers, he jumped in front of the bullet that would have killed his charge, Pippa. All I can do is 'tweep' and watch.  
  
Hopefully I'm not the only one that wants these two to be happy…  
  
[/I]  
  
  
  
Kit didn't know how long he had stared, gaping really, at the door. The conversation that had just taken place was so surreal. It wasn't real…it couldn't be.  
  
But, oh, it was.  
  
"I looked into your eyes, they told me plenty," They did. When he opened his door and saw her standing there, her eyes gave way what was coming. "I already knew you never felt a thing." At least he should have, there were enough warning signs.  
  
[I] 'You make it sound fleeting.'  
  
'Everything is.'[/I]  
  
How many times had she hinted at there being an end? That she had to have this lifestyle. "So soon forgotten all that you do in more than words I tried to tell you." He tried to tell that their love was forever. It had been love, at least for him. "The more I tried I failed." No truer words had been spoken. How many times had she maneuvered the conversation elsewhere? And that ridiculous talk about how she owed Harry but refused to tell him what. "I would not let myself believe that you might stray." Oh, he couldn't bare the thought that at this very moment Riches hands were probably on her, over her, in her. It was maddening.  
  
"And I would stand by you. No matter what they'd say, I would have thought I'd be with you until my dying day. Until my dying day." That's what their song had said, had it not?  
  
[I]'Come what may, come what may, I will love you until my dying day…'[/I]  
  
"I used to think my life was often empty." A life without love was always empty. Always lonely. "A lonely space to fill. You hurt me more than I ever would have imagined. You made my world stand still." Everything was frozen. He couldn't move, couldn't think, he could barely sing this song. "And in that stillness there was a freedom I never felt before." The freedom that meant nothing mattered any more.  
  
He could go back to his father, run the business. It didn't matter what he did with his life now- it was poisoned with Silke.  
  
"I would not let myself believe that you might stray and I would stand by you no matter what they'd say, I would have thought I'd be with you until my dying day. Until my dying day." To think he had believed her when she sang that song. Every time she had said 'I love you.'  
  
Voices filled his head…they had a strange ring of déjà vu to him.  
  
[I]  
  
'What's wrong?'  
  
  
  
'I'm staying with the Duke. After I left you, the Duke came to see me and he offered me everything. Everything I've ever dreamed of. He has one condition. I must never see you again. I'm sorry.'  
  
'What are you talking about?'  
  
  
  
'You knew who I was.'  
  
  
  
'What are you saying? What about last night? What we said?'  
  
  
  
'I don't expect you to understand. The difference between you and I is that you can leave anytime you choose. But this is my home. The Moulin Rouge is my home.'  
  
  
  
'No, there must be something else. This-this can't be real.'  
  
  
  
'There's something the matter. Tell me what it is. Tell me the truth. Tell me the truth, tell me the truth!'  
  
  
  
'The truth? The truth is… I am the Hindu courtesan. And I choose the Maharaja. That's how the story really ends.'  
  
[/I]  
  
  
  
At first he thought it was he and Silke, and why it rang familiar to their conversation earlier, it wasn't the exact wording. He blinked, trying to place. Finally it hit Kit.  
  
It was from 'Love At The Moulin Rouge' by Christian James. The conversation where Satine has to convince Christian she does not love him, because the fact that she's dying and couldn't offer him anything and to protect him from the Duke's threat of death to the young writer.  
  
Christian James had it easy. Satine was doing it to protect him, out of honor. This Christian's heart was broken because Silke was materialistic and loved money. And toying with people's emotions.  
  
At least Satine had truly loved Christian until her dying day, Kit doubted Silke had ever loved anyone. Other than herself, of course.  
  
Even as he thought the caustic thoughts, he knew there was a certain untruth to them. If only anything made sense…  
  
Sighing, Kit turned away from the door and went into the living room, turning on the television. What was on television had him gaping once again.  
  
  
  
  
  
SONG USED: Plenty by Sarah McLachlan 


	12. Chapter Eleven

1 Part Eleven  
  
[I]  
  
Yes!  
  
I'm going to be a cat in my next life…  
  
[/I]  
  
Silke was awoken by the sound of sirens, she groaned as she lifted her head up and stared uncomprehendingly at the television. She blinked until her mind collected itself and the television came into focus.  
  
"This morning, around 2:30A.M. the police raided New York nightclub, the Scarlet Tower." At the news anchor's announcement, Silke sat straight up, all thoughts of illness gone from her conscious. "An anonymous source tipped off the night club's true purpose- a whore house."  
  
"Chocolat!" She cried out. That sneaky friend of hers…He had brought her out to eat for breakfast and then less than an hour after she had fell violently ill and had to cancel on Harry, who had come over to make sure she wasn't faking it.  
  
Oh dear lord, what was she to do with her well-meaning friend?  
  
*****  
  
"I can't believe you did that," Silke repeated, for what had to be the 150th time.  
  
"You can stop saying that, Miss Kay," Chocolat repeated, sounding very much amused.  
  
"Stop being amused!" She told him. "You set up the raid at the Scarlet Tower."  
  
"Someone had to do it," He countered. "What Harry was doing was rather illegal, and extremely immoral. Not to mention he was manipulating something wicked."  
  
"But…everyone else involved!" Silke sputtered.  
  
"I had some of the other 'dancers' come with me, Miss Kay, they'll get immunity like me," Chocolat explained. "And you…well you weren't even there. And you were employed under the alias of Kay Montgomery."  
  
"But why, Choc?"  
  
He sighed, "Because the Scarlet Tower's reign is over. We all need to go on and do something better with our lives. Look, it was only a matter of time before Harry went down and took the rest of us with him."  
  
"I suppose," Silke replied, resting her head on her knees. "But it's just so…surreal how everything ended so quickly."  
  
"Like you and Kit?" He asked softly.  
  
Silke's head snapped up, "What do you know about that?"  
  
"I have eyes, for one. For another, I overheard Harry's threat."  
  
"Oh." She rested against her knees once more.  
  
"You should go to him and explain why Harry and the Tower have such a hold over you."  
  
"It's too late and it's too bad," Silke quoted. "And he won't want to think about me. Much less see me."  
  
"You underestimate love. You always have."  
  
Silke arched an eyebrow; "I never would have token you for a hopeless romantic, Choc."  
  
"You don't have to be a hopeless romantic to believe in the power of love, Kay," Chocolat told her. "Just human."  
  
She sighed helplessly, "Maybe I should be a cliché for awhile, and you know just me? I've been attached to a man since I was seventeen. Before that I was playing the role of mother to my own, and the longest celibacy I've had in the best eight years is because I was on my deathbed."  
  
"How dramatic you are," Chocolat teased gently. "Do you really want to be without him? Think of how you felt when Harry said you had to break his heart and leave him behind forever?"  
  
Silke was silent, which spoke for its self.  
  
"Look, Kay, go to him and tell him the whole story. Tell him why. He's an understanding boy," Chocolat told her. "He's the hopeless romantic."  
  
"What if I cured him of his ridiculous obsession with love?"  
  
Chocolat was silent for an amused moment. "Have you read 'Love At The Moulin Rouge'?"  
  
Silke looked at him queerly. "No. Why do people keep asking me that?"  
  
"You and Kit just remind me of something I read in it, that's all." He shrugged it off.  
  
"So you think I should go Pretty Woman on my self, except apply role reversal at the last second become Richard Gere?"  
  
"I thought you never watched movies about a happily-ever-hooker."  
  
Silke averted her gaze to rest at her sock clad foot. "It's a very popular movie, I've heard much about it."  
  
"You may become a hopeless romantic after all."  
  
Silke fixed him with a mock glare, "Shush, man. I can't anyway, he lives all the way out in Connecticut. The way I got there before was because Harry lent me his car."  
  
Chocolat dug in his pockets and put his keys in her small palm. "Go now. Or else regret it the rest of your life."  
  
Silke grinned. "You're so movie like, Choc."  
  
Chocolat rolled his eyes, "Just go before I decide to punish you by keeping you and Kit apart."  
  
She jumped up. "I'm leaving. Thank you Chocolat," Silke paused at the door. "You're a real friend." With that she left the room.  
  
Chocolat just shook his head and grinned to himself. Everything was going to work out just fine, after all. 


	13. Chapter Twelve

1 Part Twelve  
  
  
  
'My body aches to breathe your breath, your words keep me alive," The song lyrics went through Silke's mind numbly as she stood outside of Kit's apartment door. 'And I would be the one to hold you down, and kiss you so hard, I'll take your breath away…' Summoning all her courage, she gave the door a quick knock and decided to let fate take care of the rest.  
  
A few moments Kit answered the door, looking very surprised to see her. "I would've thought you'd be in jail by now."  
  
"I was sick," She said by way of explanation. "Look, I'm here groveling Christian. I'd be on my knees but given my past, I didn't find it at all appropriate."  
  
He sighed, hating himself for not closing the door the second he saw it was her. "Need someone to support you know that your job is gone?"  
  
"No, look," Silke looked so sincere in her attempts that he almost believed her. "It's extremely complicated."  
  
"So you've said before." Complicated. How he was really beginning to wish that the word were stricken from everyone's vocabulary. Kit couldn't bear to hear it one more time. "Are you actually going to explain it now?"  
  
Silke didn't even hesitate. "Yes."  
  
Kit reluctantly stepped aside, allowing her passage into his apartment, idly wondering how long it was going to take for him to regret this. Then he led her into the kitchen.  
  
"Remember when you asked me about my year-long absence?" She asked as soon as they had sat down. At his nod, she continued. "It started near the beginning of the year, at work. There were a few spells where I'd faint in the middle of a number or conquest. Before long I started having these mind numbing coughing fits. So I figured I had a cold or influenza, surprisingly never been sick before that I never really considered what it meant. At least not until, um, I found blood on my hands after covering my mouth during one of those fits."  
  
"You had cancer?" He asked- the symptoms were common enough for cancer victims.  
  
"Nay, that would have been too simple," Silke laughed bitterly. "I mean you know what to expect from cancer, there are plotlines and commercials telling you what to do when you are diagnosed. Unfortunately the health people left out the ad that tells you how to deal with being diagnosed with Tuberculosis."  
  
"Excuse me?" Kit choked on his words.  
  
"T.B., white plague, consumption…" Silke shrugged as she listed off some of the common names for the obsolescent disease.  
  
"I know what it is," Kit told her. "I just thought it to be obsolete in this day and age."  
  
Silke sighed. "Up until that point of my life I thought TB existed only within the walls of movies and books that were set back in the days of yore. But irrelevant at this point in time. You see TB is an extremely expensive disease to have. It's like cancer in two ways.  
  
"The first is its treatments. You are treated with chemotherapy, which is every bit as horrific as it is portrayed. Plus they keep you on pills for six to twelve months afterwards. Most people stop before the six months is up, but I can't afford to get so sick again. The second is that there's no guarantee that it's gone. You know how cancer patients keep having to have these check ups to make sure the cancer isn't coming back? I have those too, to make sure the TB is gone from my system.  
  
"The club doesn't give anyone any benefits. No dental, health, medical, whatever. So I was pretty much in a place that it was either die or die. But, um, Harry came to me in my hospital room one night with a proposition. He wanted me to become like a courtesan. Which is a prostitute that sleeps with the higher ups. The Lords of the Realm, sort of speak. Before I was able to pick and choose. I could have anyone I want, and it didn't matter if I didn't have a customer every night I worked. I could afford not to. But with this…Harry chose whom I'd have to sleep with. Investors, policemen, politicians, etc. If I did this, than he'd pay all my medical bills, and every week he'd take out half my paycheck to repay him for his help. Which explains my unpaid heat bill of present day.  
  
"I stayed out of honor to Harry and the deal I made with him that night. I stayed because I was afraid of contracting the disease again and not having the money to pay for it. I can't afford that, Christian," Silke ended her explanation with a gulp; her throat was rather dry now.  
  
Kit leaned back into his chair, absorbing everything she had said. "I see. So a few years ago, you fell ill to some obsolescent disease. Harry paid to keep you alive so you could sleep with the people that could help him get rich. Then he held the debt over your head to ensure your staying with the Scarlet Tower?"  
  
Silke had to admit that it sounded like something out a movie, but that's what happened. "Believe it or not," She said, feigning indifference, hating herself for how much she relied on Kit being in her life now. "That's what happened."  
  
"I believe you," He said slowly. "It's just all very weird."  
  
"I'm not the first person in this millennium to get TB," Silke replied. "I know that guy from the Mariners has it too."  
  
Kit shook his head, "Not that. The whole story, it just seems familiar."  
  
"Familiar how?"  
  
"Like it was something out of a…" His voice trailed off.  
  
"A movie?" Silke supplied.  
  
"No, a novel."  
  
"What novel?"  
  
"Are you sure you've never read 'Love at The Moulin Rouge' before?" He asked, suddenly sounding very suspicious."  
  
Silke shook her head, "No, I stay away from Happy Ending Hooker stories. I've never even seen Pretty Woman or Risky Business."  
  
Kit tapped his fingers against the table. "Then I'm sure it's nothing."  
  
"I get the feeling I should read this book since everyone keeps asking me if I've read it," Silke muttered under her breath.  
  
Kit snapped out of his trance of déjà vu. "But now the, uh, tuberculosis- you're okay?"  
  
"Didn't I tell you when we first met that I had a clean bill of health?" Silke asked, feeling more at ease to tease now.  
  
"Ah yes, your every handy medical records you carry around with you. Do they mention anything about the TB?"  
  
She shook her head. "No, I edited them myself." She flushed guiltily. "It's just that some people are ignorant and if they saw that on my records they'd be in fear of contracting it themselves. Like I said before, no one really talks about getting TB, and we couldn't have investors screaming from the room how the whorehouse is really a breeding ground for strange illnesses."  
  
"So how do you feel about marriage, kids and barely surviving off little income?" He asked her suddenly.  
  
"With you?" She waited for his nod before continuing. "I'd have to say it's not as scary as it was before."  
  
"And what if I say this is all happening in Scotland?"  
  
"Mmmm…I'd say 'Wow there goes another fraction of the fear.'"  
  
"And that'd you'd be living a lot better than you are now because I'd have a decent job?"  
  
Silke looked at him oddly. "I'd say you'd have to tell me more because my mind is going to places I don't like, Christian MacLaren. Somehow it keeps ending up at your father's business."  
  
He sighed, "Okay so now I'm saying it's only temporary and there's a local playhouse I could probably write for while we work to become stable. I get health and dental benefits."  
  
She pretended to pout. "Of course, you have to go to the one thing I can't refuse."  
  
"So…shall we?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Silke told him. "I'm not hearing a proposal out of you, and I have this sudden craving to be made an honest woman out of you."  
  
Kit moaned dramatically. "Silke, I love you to d… err, now and forever, will you please marry me?"  
  
"Why yes of course," She was grinning, she couldn't help it. "I don't think I've ever been asked so nicely before."  
  
"And?"  
  
"I'll love you until my dying day," Silke moved to his side of the table, to wrap her arms around him as he pulled her on his lap.  
  
Kit brushed a stray hair lock away as he rested his forehead against hers. "Come what may." And then they kissed their first kiss of their new life of love, happiness and all with a strangely blissful lovebird.  
  
  
  
Songs Used:  
  
Possession- Sarah McLachlan  
  
Come What May- Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman 


	14. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
  
  
[I]18 Months Later[/I]  
  
[I] Remember how they always seemed to know  
  
we had the forest in our eyes  
  
but the earth was in our clothes  
  
and they thought we'd fall  
  
not at all[/I]  
  
"'Days turned in to weeks, weeks turned into months. And then on one not so very special day, I went to my typewriter and sat down and I wrote our story. A story about a time, a story about a place. A story about the people but most of all, a story about love. A love that will live forever.'" Taking a big sip of water that had been sitting near the rocking chair, Silke set the book down.  
  
"Finally got around to reading it, love?" Kit asked as he walked into the small room.  
  
Silke cleared her throat before answering. "Oh yes, it was wonderful, Christian. Now keep your voice down," She admonished.  
  
Kit squatted down to be more level with the bassinet that carried their one-month-old daughter, Arian. He kissed her on the forehead before standing up to sit next to Silke. "I don't think she found it to be as spectacular as you."  
  
"Oh she was riveted," Silke said with smile. "It was just the excitement of the book that put her to sleep."  
  
[I]  
  
so look back on the treasured days  
  
we were young in a world that was so tired  
  
though it's not what we wanted before  
  
even the saints had to crawl from the floor  
  
summers when the money was gone you'd sing  
  
all you're little songs  
  
that meant every thing to me  
  
[/I]  
  
Kit reached across his wife to pick up the book. "You know it's been forever since I've read this book."  
  
"I wouldn't, if I were you," Silke warned him. "It's too freaky to contemplate."  
  
"What is?"  
  
"The similarities that happened to Satine and Christian and what happened between you and me."  
  
"It can't be that great of coincidences in there," Kit said as he flipped through the pages, catching only glimpses of the scenes Christian James had written.  
  
Silke snorted. "Go ahead and read it again, Christian."  
  
"Maybe I will."  
  
[I]  
  
and I'll remember you  
  
and the things that we used to do  
  
and the things that we used to say  
  
I'll remember you  
  
that way  
  
[/I]  
  
"The club owner in there is named Harold," Silke spoke up suddenly after Kit had completed a few pages.  
  
"I've gotten to the part where he says 'before I knew of Harold Zidler…'," Kit replied, not looking up from the book.  
  
"And there's a male dancer named Chocolat that's always there for Satine when she needs him," Silke added.  
  
Kit put the book down and sighed. "Okay, chills now. The book's been put down."  
  
Silke grabbed Kit's hand and held it in hers, "Oh, you looked happy when you came in here. What happened?"  
  
"I'm always happy to see you and Arian."  
  
"Happier," Silke amended.  
  
[I]  
  
remember how they tried to hold you down  
  
and we climbed those towers  
  
and looked down upon our town  
  
and everything you hoped would last  
  
just always becomes your past (it hurts)  
  
summers when the money was gone you'd sing  
  
all you're little songs that meant everything  
  
to me  
  
[/I]  
  
"Well," Kit stopped to take a dramatic pause. "I have learned that we only have one month left to endure my father's charity."  
  
"Och," Silke was grinning now, as she slipped off the chair and into her husband's lap. "That sounds splendid."  
  
He raised an eyebrow at her, "I'm not sure if your speech gets more Scottish or more English every day."  
  
"I think a little of both," Silke admitted. "You are the most spectacular being though, bringing me not only back to the U.K. but to Scotland, as well."  
  
Kit kissed her, "Well, I live to serve you, milady."  
  
"I got a letter from Chocolat the other day," She brought up out of the blue.  
  
"Truly? What did it say?"  
  
"He told me that he got a new job," Silke replied. "But I'd have to look at the letter to tell you what it is. And he told me that the Scarlet Tower trial just finished the other day."  
  
"And?" Kit prodded.  
  
"A few years in prison, so on," she answered. "Nothing major. Even less for the prostitutes."  
  
"Well remember to thank Chocolat again for doing what he did that night," Kit told her.  
  
"Choc said that naming him godfather of Arian was more than enough. He called it a great honor."  
  
[I]  
  
but then this world  
  
slipped through my fingers  
  
and even the sun seemed tired  
  
i still cared  
  
as i lowered you down  
  
my heart just jaded  
  
in that moment the earth made no sound  
  
but you were there  
  
you helped me lift my pain into the air  
  
[/I]  
  
Kit stood up, cradling Silke in his arms. "Oh I suppose it is. She is a darling, isn't she?"  
  
"Absolutely," Silke agreed, stealing a glance at their redheaded infant.  
  
"But I don't think she'd mind if we'd steal away while she was sleeping."  
  
"You're far too verbose," Silke warned him with a sigh.  
  
"Should I just have said, 'Meet Me In The Red Room'?" He questioned teasingly.  
  
Silke rolled her eyes, "You're so lucky I love you so much."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
[I]  
  
if it don't hurt you  
  
it wont hurt me  
  
it don't hurt me  
  
then it wont hurt you  
  
if it don't hurt you  
  
it wont hurt me I know  
  
[I]  
  
SONG USED: 'Perfect Memory' by Remy Zero 


End file.
